Spotlight on Collections: The Lodge Papers, Part 2

Continuing our series on the Henry Cabot Lodge & and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. collections, let us look at how the Cabot and Lodge families connect to Massachusetts and each other.

The elder Henry Cabot Lodge was the son of John Ellerton Lodge and Anna Sophia Cabot, a marriage that brought together two prosperous families. Anna Cabot descended from a John Cabot who emigrated from England at the beginning of the 18th century, married into a prominent family, settled in Salem, Mass., and built a fortune in shipping. Later generations of this family line expanded into Beverly and continued to prosper as cotton merchants. George Cabot of Beverly, the great-grandfather of Henry Cabot Lodge, served his country – and his own fortunes -- during the Revolutionary War as a “patriot privateer,” and was later elected to the convention to form the constitution of Massachusetts. In 1791 he was appointed to the U.S. Senate, and had some influence on the creation of the Treasury Department.

The Lodges arrived in Boston quite by accident in 1791, almost a century after the first Cabots arrived. Giles Lodge, a London merchant (and future the grandfather of Henry Cabot Lodge), was traveling on business in Santo Domingo in 1791, when the Haitian Revolution broke out. He was able to find safe passage off the island on an American vessel, which brought him to Boston. Realizing the business opportunities in the city, he chose to settle in Boston and prospered, never returning to England again. In 1842 his son, John Ellerton Lodge – who it is said built one of the largest fortunes in Massachusetts at that time – married Anna Sophia Cabot, uniting the Lodge and Cabot names.

Henry Cabot Lodge was the second child of John Ellerton Lodge. His sister Elizabeth was seven years older. Cabot followed in his great-grandfather's footsteps, obtaining political renown as a U.S. senator. He was also a noted historian and close friend and confidant of President Theodore Roosevelt.

The MHS holds several collections related to the early Lodge family including:

John Ellerton Lodge letterbooks, 1844-1861; Microfilm: P-33, 6 reels

George Cabot Lodge papers, 1873-1909; Microfilm: P-317

Be on the look out -- the next installment in the Lodge series will appear on February 23rd.